Episode 983: the Non-Endless-Lockout Edition
Date December 2, 2016 Summary Ben and Sam banter about an endless lockout and an A.J. Ellis rumor, then answer listener emails about odd MVP votes in Japan, peak Pedro vs. peak Koufax, what they would bid for Charley Kershaw’s baseball career, and mo Topics * MVP votes for pinch runners * Comparing Pedro Martinez and Sandy Koufax * Competitiveness of the MLB player pool * Baseball bloodlines and Clayton Kershaw's newborn son Intro Sharon Van Etten, "Peace Signs" Outro Ocean Colour Scene, "Profit in Peace" Banter * MLB and the MLBPA have announced a new labor agreement that will last until December 1, 2021. * Sam wonders how long baseball writing could continue if there were a non-ending strike/lockout. Ben thinks two years and Sam guesses closer to eight months. * Ben and Sam wonder will be the best baseball biography subject in thirty years. Sam thinks that unlike years past there is less information about players that is unknown to the public. * Sam continues to go through old tweets of his. * A.J. Ellis and potential signing with the Philadelphia Phillies. Email Questions * Anthony: "I need assistance persuading my dad that Sandy Koufax is not the greatest pitcher of all time. I usually try to win this argument by comparing Koufax to Pedro. My dad rejects any comparison to any pitcher with a) a lesser peak or b) a normal career length. So is peak Pedro better than peak Koufax?" * Jeff: "If you were running a team how much would you pay to control Charley Kershaw's rights through say 2046?" Play Index * Sam uses the Play Index to look at the number of players in MLB during different eras. * For each year the number of players in MLB is listen in parentheses: 1910 (508), 1950 (530), 1988 (973), 2016 (973). * Sam then looks to see what the hypothetical cutoff for plate appearances would be in the modern era if there was a similarly limited player pool today. He also compares to overall population numbers that would have been eligible to play in MLB. * If transported to 1988, there are 75 hitters that would not have had enough plate appearances to make the cut. * Each MLB player in the current day is represents about 1.2 million people from population. Notes * In 2014 Takahiro Suzuki, a pinch running specialist who had just 25 plate appearances, finished 10th in MVP voting in NPB. He received three first place ballots and during the season was 11 for 13 on stolen base attempts. * In Episode 786 Ben and Sam discussed Anthony's email asking for help convincing his father that Barry Bonds should be in the Hall of Fame. * Ben thinks that if Nolan Ryan pitched in today's era with a lower workload he would have an ERA+ of 120. * Ben and Sam refer back to their discussion on baseball bloodlines in Episode 221. Links * Effectively Wild Episode 983: The Non-Endless-Lockout Edition Category:Episodes Category:Email Episodes